<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>No Family or Marital Responsibilities to Distract Her by telling_you_stories</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29535402">No Family or Marital Responsibilities to Distract Her</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/telling_you_stories/pseuds/telling_you_stories'>telling_you_stories</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, F/F, Pre-Canon, a little bit of pre-canon slice of life ending with a gentle gutpunch to the feels, you can't tell me they're not boning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:36:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,087</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29535402</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/telling_you_stories/pseuds/telling_you_stories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Judith said, “A necromancer and her cavalier are supposed to be close. They function as a team, and the most effective pairings demonstrate not only a detailed knowledge of each other’s habits, movements, and strategies, but a deep and implicit trust. Physical intimacy, if managed correctly, can serve to further deepen the necromancer / cavalier bond and provide --”</p><p>“You’ve been making the same argument for two years,” Marta cut her off, laughing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Judith Deuteros/Marta Dyas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>No Family or Marital Responsibilities to Distract Her</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Because there were a few things in Judith’s intelligence report in the bonus materials of Gideon the Ninth that struck me as… interesting.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Judith pushed herself back onto her heels and shook out her aching arms.</p><p>"Seventeen," she reported, pulling up the hem of her training shirt to wipe the sweat off her face. "That's a new personal best, I think."</p><p>Marta nodded from where she was sitting cross-legged on Judith's bed. "It is -- well done," she said, not looking up from the pages of flimsy spread out in front of her. "But you need to work on keeping your elbows tucked in. And your back is beginning to sag on the later reps."</p><p>Judith grimaced. "I'm trying," she said, doing her best to keep the whine out of her voice.</p><p>Of course, Marta knew her too well, and caught her petulance. The cavalier finally looked up, giving Judith a half smile. "Most necromancers couldn't even do a single press-up, and you just did seventeen. And <em>most</em> of them were good form. You should be happy with that."</p><p>"But you can do at least three times that," said Judith, climbing up off the floor and flopping down next to Marta. Their quarters were small and spartan, but private, as suited an officer and her cavalier -- a perk of Judith's recent promotion to captain. They'd shoved the cavalier cot in front of the small desk to clear the floor for Judith's exercises, leaving the bed as the most accessible piece of furniture</p><p>"Yes," agreed Marta, "but <em>you </em>can channel thanergy, which puts you at a significant disadvantage for building muscle fibers. So it's hardly a fair comparison." She collected the sheets of flimsy into a neat stack and passed them to Judith. "Intelligence report looks solid -- you did a good job summing up the Ninth House."</p><p>Judith made a face. "You mean coming up with some bullshit to fill the page in place of having any actual observations. I hate that we're going to Canaan House completely blind on the Ninth -- and barely better on the Eighth."</p><p>"There will certainly be opportunities on the Lyctor pilgrimage to gather more concrete intelligence," said Marta. She absentmindedly began to rub out the muscles of her forearms, easing out the strain of what Judith knew had been a particularly rigorous training session that morning. Then her cavalier grinned and added, "And certainly you'll return as a Lyctor. After all, you have 'no marital or family responsibilities to distract you,' right?"</p><p>Judith grinned back, and sat up. "Oh, come on. You know the Head of Intelligence wants a full set of observations in these reports, including any notes on personal attachments." She reached over to pull Marta's right arm into her lap, taking over the job of working over the tight muscles. She took a moment to run her fingers over the skin of the inner arm, marveling as always at how soft it was over hard muscles. But it was only a moment, and then she set to the business of digging her fingers first into the flexors and extensors of her cavalier's forearm and then, a touch more gently, into the tendons of her wrist and thumb. She added, "Anyways, it's true. I have no marital or family responsibilities -- and neither do you."</p><p>"So you don't have <em>any</em> distractions?" teased Marta. "Not even --" she twisted and picked up the first sheet of flimsy with her free hand, and read "--your 'extraordinary,' 'exemplary' cavalier, the 'best and most promising' of all the cavaliers in your report?"</p><p>"You're not a distraction," protested Judith. She leaned in and kissed her cavalier, smiling, then sat back and switched to massaging Marta's other arm. "A necromancer and her cavalier are supposed to be close. They function as a team, and the most effective pairings demonstrate not only a detailed knowledge of each other's habits, movements, and strategies, but a deep and implicit trust. Physical intimacy, if managed correctly, can serve to further deepen the necromancer / cavalier bond and provide --"</p><p>"You've been making the same argument for two years," Marta cut her off, laughing. "Isn't it time for a new one?"</p><p>"I don't see any need for a change. It convinced you well enough then, and everything I've observed so far supports my theory." Judith cocked an eyebrow at her cavalier, and leaned closer. "Don't you think?"</p><p>"Fine," said Marta with a grin. "You were right then, and you're still right now," and she pulled her necromancer into her lap for a long, slow kiss.</p><p>A little while later, they lay curled in bed together. Judith's face was tucked into the curve of Marta's neck and she nuzzled it.</p><p>In response, Marta kissed the top of her necromancer's head and tightened her arms to pull her closer. Then she said quietly, close enough Judith could feel her warm breath stirring her hair, "Do you really think I'm the best cavalier going?"</p><p>Judith smiled, and pressed her lips to the soft skin of her cavalier's neck. "Of course. Don't you? You know I relied heavily on your input for the cavalier sections of that report."</p><p>"You know I'm worried about Protesilaus," replied Marta. "I've never seen frontline action -- he did tours to three separate front lines, <em>and</em> was ranked first duelist in the general class cavaliers for three years running."</p><p>"But that was ages ago," argued Judith. "Pro's past his prime. You've got a first-class ranking, too, and much more recently. You've been training and moving up the ranks while he's been sitting at home, bogged down with a wife and kids, saddled with a necromancer who's more than halfway to being a corpse herself."</p><p>Judith heard the smile in Marta's voice as she said, "And, of course, my necromancer is you. That will certainly give us an advantage."</p><p>"Seriously." Judith sat up, and Marta propped herself up on her elbows to look at her. "With you as my cavalier, I think I can do it. I can become a Lyctor."</p><p>"One of the Emperor's bones and joints. His fists and gestures." Marta looked at her necromancer, her gaze searching and thoughtful. After a long moment, she nodded. "I think you can."</p><p>"<em>We</em> can," corrected Judith. She dropped back down and wound her arms around her cavalier's neck. " 'Ascend to the Emperor in glory, Lyctors joined with their cavaliers,' the letter said. You'd stay with me -- serving the Emperor together -- maybe for ten thousand years." Her voice was quiet, almost hesitant, as she added, "Do you want that?"</p><p>"Yes." Marta stroked one hand along her necromancer's jawline, then drew her close. "Yes, I want that," she breathed, and kissed her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm <a href="https://pinkit.tumblr.com/">pinkit</a> on Tumblr -- come yell about queer shit with me.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>